AAT-Taiwan (Art & Architecture Thesaurus–Traditional Chinese Edition) is a cultural heritage vocabulary standardization project led by the Academia Sinica Center for Digital Cultures in collaboration with the Getty Research Institute. As part of the global initiative for the multilingual translation of the Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT), the project aims to enhance international cultural knowledge sharing and exchange.

Since its launch in 2008, AAT-Taiwan has been dedicated to translating the original AAT vocabulary into Traditional Chinese and actively expanding terms related to Taiwanese and Chinese art, architecture, and material culture. The finalized terms are contributed back to the Getty AAT global vocabulary, fostering international collaboration and knowledge exchange.

The AAT-Taiwan editorial team adopts a systematic vocabulary management methodology, establishing a standardized translation and editorial workflow. This process encompasses key tasks such as term disambiguation, conceptual structure development, visual enrichment, vocabulary framework refinement, and data validation. These efforts ensure conceptual clarity, semantic consistency, and a well-structured hierarchical framework that strengthens the logical coherence and integrity of the knowledge system. Visual materials are incorporated to enrich term interpretation, while continuous refinements are made to maintain data stability and consistency. All content undergoes rigorous validation to meet international standards, ensuring high academic credibility and global applicability.

The outcomes of AAT-Taiwan are widely applied in fields such as art history, museum studies, digital humanities, and knowledge organization research. The project also supports the development of digital archives and Linked Open Data (LOD), promoting the standardization and digitization of cultural heritage information to enhance interoperability and reuse.

Through close collaboration with the Getty Research Institute and experts worldwide, AAT-Taiwan is committed to advancing the cross-linguistic and cross-cultural application of art and architectural knowledge. The project aims to provide a more inclusive and diverse knowledge framework for the global research community while strengthening the international visibility and contribution of Taiwan's cultural knowledge system.

Project Team